You can. Do not stop training but rather just do not exercises which cause the pain.

Some things you probably won't be able to do are military press, behind the neck press, upright rows, and maybe incline press. Probably can still train back, thighs, calves, biceps (if you use good form), triceps, traps (shrugs, deadlifts), forearms, abs, hamstrings, and lol neck.

Take glucosamine for about a month like it is going out of style. This will help the injury heal. When you start back on the risky exercises (and you'll have to if you want shoulders) go light for a few weeks and use exceptional form.

im not sure. after my back/traps day. i just felt the weakness in my shoulder and pain every time i try to move it.. the only thing that i think might have done it. was when i was putting 150's away after shrugs. the rack where i had to put the 150's under the 100's. was really hard for me to put it back. then yester, i still did shoulders/triceps. i could barely do 95lbs on the seated militaries. my usuaually weight is 185. i kinda knew something was wrong with my shoulder. so i just told myself to go light weight and to focus moore on the stretch. when i did tricep. i did the same weight that i normally do. even on close grip bench press and lying extensiion. the only tris exerise that i had a hard time was one are overhead extension. I havent seen a doctor yet, my sister whos a nerosciece student told me to see how it feels after the weekend. but i've looked up shoulder pain/injuries. i have all of them for a rolator cuff injury. i've been injury free until now.

I had the same thing and I have been successful in working around it for years. Take ibuprofen (800 mg 4 times a days for a few weeks) and it will seem like it has healed but it won't have mended up yet. You severly messed it up. Try doing flat bench but anything over your head it out of the question for weeks...even inclines . The ibuprofen thing I got from a shoulder specialist when I screwed it up during college. Another thing he said to do was the rotator cuff exercises and those work very well for healing it. But take the glucosamine too.

So your 'stack' is 800 mg ibuprofen 4 times a day for 2 weeks, glucosamine twice a day for 2 weeks, rotator cuff excercises. It will heal! I gurantee you Shawn Ray, Lee Priest, Chick, and all the other pros have experienced this injury and look at their ultimate development! I'll look for you next time in the gym near the calf machine lol!

my quick and experienced advice..--don't take any time off from exercises that cause the pain...instead, go extremely light on those exercises, circulating the blood flow....this will work wonders on the recuperation time.

Your kidding yourself if you think that you can train around that type of injury for any length of time. Your going to put too many limitations on the choice of exercises and the amount of weight used if being a top level BB'er is one of your goals. Pain killers are only masking the seriousness of the injury, they may help you along for a while but soon or later medical treatment may be required.

When one or both of the main ligament of the Rotator cuff has a slight tear, than usually, with rest, it can heal it's self in most people. If you avoid rest and other forms of treatment and keep working out at your usual pace, than the Rotator Cuff injury (a serpation of the shoulder) becomes a stress point that will only become worse and probably will tear even more. Perhaps even to the point of rupture, which in any case would be called a very serious injury.

Might want to check it out with a doctor to make sure wheither you have a slight tear or a major rupture. With luck it may be only a pinched nerve (very common), shoulder/neck needing adjusting, etc. Though a repair operation (though depending on a lot of factors) is some what common now a days, the complete recovery will take time (arm in a sling, etc). If you hear a clicking sound/feeling when you move your arm around than you may have a more serious problem. May want to make that appointment first thing monday morning. Good Luck.

thanx bro i'll seriously try that stack.. if it doesnt work for my should all my other joint would love it. i guess this is a sign that i need to lighten up a bit. i go heavy all the time with free weght. in my world theres no machines.

my quick and experienced advice..--don't take any time off from exercises that cause the pain...instead, go extremely light on those exercises, circulating the blood flow....this will work wonders on the recuperation time.

BINGO! I screwed up my "cuff" about 3 years ago. I went from Dumbell Presses to a machine with light weight for about 3 months. I was back lifting my normal weights in about 5 months.

IF it feels serious and/or doesn't go away, you have to see a doctor. Otherwise, take a 5-7 day break, stay with moderate weights and higher weights and always ensure good warmups of the shoulder-windmills for a couple of minutes work for me, along with a couple of light sets.

I wouldn't go back to heavy, actually-moderate weights, moderate reps avoids problems and IMO, works the muscle better. Heavy weights are begging for more problems, unless you're amongst the lucky ones.

Also consider the exercises, substitute for those that could be part of the problem.

today i saw a doctor, they said to avold any overhead movements and not to workout for a week. im like shit that. they alway ask me " do you go heavy" and i could never say yes or no bc whats heavy to me can be light to you. they said that its a lil tear. and that i was lucky it wasnt a full tear. so i'm more or less ground at home bc im taken heavy pain killers.

i kinda knew it wasnt that serious bc this morning. i did chest, i was bench 275lbs, inclining 225 and could fly 80's. but i couldnt lower the bar past a point. bc of my shoulder pain.

today i saw a doctor, they said to avold any overhead movements and not to workout for a week. im like shit that. they alway ask me " do you go heavy" and i could never say yes or no bc whats heavy to me can be light to you. they said that its a lil tear. and that i was lucky it wasnt a full tear. so i'm more or less ground at home bc im taken heavy pain killers.

i kinda knew it wasnt that serious bc this morning. i did chest, i was bench 275lbs, inclining 225 and could fly 80's. but i couldnt lower the bar past a point. bc of my shoulder pain.

take some time off man, it will only help you in the long run. trust me, i've been there.

I have worked with RC tears quite a bit with my clients and athletes, but the first thing to do is to have your range of motion tested, the second is to determine the amount of pain on a scale from 1-10. If you have lets say a dull pain when doing nothing, it time to go to the Doc for an exam to determine if an MRI is needed (a probable suggestion). Depending on the extent of the injury, you can train around it by just doing laterals (side and rear) and doing RC strengthining exercises.The one thing that people who lift weights lack is stabilizer strength, your RC are stabilizer muscles. For example, just because you have big and strong primary muscles absolutly does not mean you have strong stabilizers..ex; a bodybuilder cannot throw a ball, swing a tennis raquet, etc the same way an athlete can simply because the athlete (this is not a bash on bodybuilders) has much stronger stabilizers (or Rotator cuff) than a bodybuilder, this is why so many weightlifters have tears.

Remedy, if you don't see the doc (but you should),

1. Start a funtional training program.

2. No overhead or straight bar exercises.

3. No more than 3 sets of 5 reps to start. Increase weight when the pain lessens.

4. RC strengthning exercises (DB rotation) 4 times per week, 3 sets of 10-15 reps with no more than 5lbs!

thx for the advice bro.. i did have a ROM test and it hurt like hell.. the only bodyparts i've trained since was chest/bic and legs. which i didnt really see a lose of stengh. i was still going heavy for that day. the true test is thurday and friday bc on thurd back/traps and friday is shoulders/tris.

on shoulders day, should i even train an military press?? or what can i do for shoulders. the day after this injury. i didnt know that i was injuried. tryed military press and it was one of the worst feels ever. i just felt so weak in the left delt.

thx for the advice bro.. i did have a ROM test and it hurt like hell.. the only bodyparts i've trained since was chest/bic and legs. which i didnt really see a lose of stengh. i was still going heavy for that day. the true test is thurday and friday bc on thurd back/traps and friday is shoulders/tris.

on shoulders day, should i even train an military press?? or what can i do for shoulders. the day after this injury. i didnt know that i was injuried. tryed military press and it was one of the worst feels ever. i just felt so weak in the left delt.

You can train any bodypart you want as long as it's BELOW the shoulder girdle and it doesn't hurt, that means nothing overhead and especially military press!

When you train back, concentrate on doing underhand grip movements and do them slow and strict, part of RC recovery and strengthing is to concentrate on upper back movement that focus on the rhomboids traps and rear delt, pectoralis minor and biceps. If you see the injured side of your shoulder area start to atrophy, it's usually a sure sign of a tear. The majority of RC tears are either tramatic or just from overuse, in your case I would suspect from overuse. High rep exercises are not recommended with the exeption of the DB rotation. Most tears are either Labral or to the Superspinatus (sp) Labral tear is a fairly quick recovery (approx 6 weeks) and the latter is longer (approx 12-14).

One other thing, see an orthopedic Dr. that specializes in SPORTS injuries, unless it's severe, they will give you recommendations to train around it, otherwise any other Doc that doesn't specialize in sports injuries they will tell you to stop training and rest......let me know what happends.

Can you explain how the DB rotation is done? what rotator cuff strengthening exercises do you recommend?

thanks

DB rotation is simply having your elbow at the same height as your shoulder up on a bench or similar, your arm is at a 90 degree angle as if you were signaling for a turn, while holding a light DB in your hand, keeping your elbow stationary, move the top part of your arm in a downward motion just coming short of hitting the bottom of the movement. The other is in a standing position having your elbow basically tucked into your side and moving the top part of your arm out and away from your body. There are many ways but these are simple and effective.